I'm _finally_ starting to get a little time in my workshop, and I've always been intrigued with wood turning. It seems that it really is a different animal than most activities in the shop... i.e., there are turners who couldn't build a Shaker stand and there are many otherwise talented and experienced woodworkers who have no experience in turning.

I bought a Jet Mini Lathe back in July when Rockler had it for close to half off (including the $100 gift card you were given that I had no doubt I would use). This was during the time that my Dad was ill, though, so I never even took it out of the box until 2 weeks ago.

The journey of lathe chisels to buy, learning about sharpening (buying one sharpening system and likely buying another very shortly) and learning the techniques themselves is pretty involved.

There is a local woodworking school that has a very good reputation and I see that they're offering a turning class, starting in May, that runs once a week, three hours a night, for fifteen weeks. At $275, that strikes me as a bargain and I think I'm going to enroll.